Leave Your Legacy

We have been in full swing of SUNYAC play for the last few weeks and we could not be more excited for the best to come! We have had quite a few laughs on the bus rides, practices and meals together and all in all this season has been going so well :) While we were not on the field practicing hard, our "Fresh 10" (yes that is what they call themselves ... we just let them be) created a fun dance for our team picnic to compete in the sports talent show.  Sadly, they didn't bring home the trophy but their dance moves captured the hearts of the crowd.


We had a little rough end to our non-conference games but it only made us hungry for our first conference win against Potsdam!  Currently, we are fourth in our conference with a 4-2 record and we still have a lot of work to do. This upcoming weekend we will face the fierce competition of Buff State and Fredonia. During this past week, we have been mentally and physically preparing with what these games will bring & I could not have more faith in our team that we will give it everything we have! Tomorrow is also senior day which means I AM OLD.  I feel like my senior game of high school soccer was yesterday and I thought I was old back than ......... Now all of us seniors rely on Advil and icy hot to get through the day! I still have the same baby face I've had since middle school so there's that.

High School Baby!!!

But looking back on this picture I have realized how much I have learned in my past four years being a member of the Plattsburgh State Women's soccer team.  Being apart of this team has given me lifelong friends, great relationships with our coaches and the best laughs (as well as dance parties). I'm listening to Justin Bieber's album right now so you know the feels are coming out so be prepared for this semi sappy/motivating post.  This post is dedicated to my wonderful senior class that has been there through thick and thin.  You guys are da bomb!!!! Here's a little timeline to enjoy:

When I was a freshman, our class started out with 12 people (TBT below).  Everyone always said these next four years would fly by but I never truly knew what they meant until now.  Like all of us on this team, soccer has always been our passion and that is what has brought us together from the beginning.  I remember freshman year we all were starting to get into the groove of college ... Making terrible TERRIBLE fashion choices, sitting in the Clinton vortex for hours after practice and just being "typical freshman" with not a care in the world.  Also before we entered the "lifting weights" world. Spot our chicken legs yikes!!!!

Freshman year!

Sophomore year we started out the season with World War III when about 32423442345 people came into preseason and it was truly a battle I will never forget.  But sophomore year was also the turning point for our team.  Coach Tania, Frantzy and Gene were the new leaders of our squad and I could not be more thankful to them for making the most out of our next 3 years.  They turned our team around and made us the most successful we have been in a while.  They are one of the best groups of coaches I have had and even better people.  The three of them push us to be the best people and players we can be everyday because they believe in us.  The game day texts from coach, the lessons and sayings ("ONE MORE!") they have shared will truly be something I will take with me for the rest of my life.  This picture was at the SAAC picnic at the beginning of the school year.  We don't usually dress like cowgirls since we learned from poor outfit decisions being a freshie!

Sophomore Year!

We had the best record we have had junior year and it was a great year full of memories!  We started to make a name for ourselves in our conference. The laughs, dance parties, bus rides (not going twice to Buffalo) and the memories are unforgettable!

Junior Year!

Ahhhhhh and last but not least senior year.  Senior year has truly been a blast so far.  We have the greatest group of girls and I'm so honored to be apart of this team.  Looking back at these pictures, all of these moments are now memories that are cherished and the moments we are creating now will be even greater memories. It seems like yesterday I was a freshman looking up to the seniors (shoutout Lalone and Grandma!!!) and thinking senior year was very distant.  Now freshman are looking up to us?? Don't know when that happened!  Every ounce of blood, sweat, tears and hard work is completely worth this rewarding experience.  It's incredible how the love of a sport can have such a great impact on your life.  The times I have spent in the library, at the field, on the bus and the locker room with my teammates will always hold a special place in the my heart.  Of course winning is important and we all love to win.  But winning with your family by your side is something even better. And we are NOWHERE near done yet! Our senior class has worked towards winning a SUNYAC championship these past four years and we will not go down without a fight. That's one of many things I admire about our senior class. We have faced many adversities throughout our college days but at the end of the day we know what to do in order to achieve success and we will do whatever we can to get it done. I've had the privilege to "do college life" with these 5 girls and Gram Cam! Every one of these people has had an influence on making college the best four years.

Senior Year!

These next few weeks of SUNYAC play try to remember why you started playing soccer.  Remember why you continue to play soccer.  Remember who you play soccer for.  Take all those feelings and play the best soccer ever and support one another to be better every day.  One important lesson I have learned at Plattsburgh is the importance of taking one day at a time. Do the best you can in the moment you are in and the rest will follow.  In order to win the whole thing we must do just that. We have to dig deep in order to get the result we know we can earn. Keep Plattsburgh State in people's minds and make it known we are here to stay. Leave it all on the field and leave your legacy in this program (even if it's "Lucy With The Red Socks") to be the best team in the conference. We got this ladiesss!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVITEhqsGy8

Let The Good Times Roll!

Hi everyone!! The 2016 soccer season (and blogging season) is officially in full swing!! My name is Lucy Wedge and I will be taking care of this lovely blog for one last season :( I know I'm a little delayed but here is what we have been up to so far :) The lady Cards started off this year with a great preseason where everyone worked and played their tails off everyday.  It was great seeing new and old faces on the pitch after being apart for the summer. To end a fairly hot preseason, we cooled off and took a white water rafting day trip with the volleyball team!

Team GoPro selfie!

Ash with all her friends!!!

This year we were also fortunate to travel to Montreal for a preseason scrimmage! It was a great game and we also ate some pretty awesome poutine to end the trip. We traveled in creepy white vans that Coach Tania, Frantzy and Gene drove as we followed each other in a creepy line to and from Montreal.  There may or may not have been a race to get home but we all know who the winner was at heart (not Frantzy's van) .........

The coolest van

Downtown Montreal!

The first day of school is always exciting .. but our first game day is even better!! We started our season off with a great home opener and a 10-0 victory over Medaille College. Our second game was definitely a nail-biter with a 2-1 overtime win against Union.  Sarah Haight scored the prettiest goal that, in my book, should be on ESPN.  I think I watched the video of her scoring about 20 times the next day!!!!  Later, Mad Sac would put the final goal away for the W in extra time! We also collected a W from Sage College where Anissa scored a lovely hat trick, and another win from Lyndon State! During our game against Lyndon State, we wore t-shirts and collected donations in order to raise awareness for Cystic Fibrosis.  It's always great to win but even better when we do it for a great cause!

Yesterday, we traveled across the lake to play Middlebury.  It was a very competitive match and although it did not end in our favor, I think we all learned something from it.  Two conversations I previously had popped into my head as the game ended yesterday.  One was during this past preseason, Cammey Keyser aka Gram Cam asked which one I felt more: hating to lose or loving to win?  I answered hating to lose. I think I can speak for many people when I say losing is not fun and it stinks.  But we also learn greater lessons when we lose, which I think is very important.  The other conversation that popped into my head was one I had, in a very,very similar situation, 2 years ago with my Dad after we had lost to Middlebury in another extremely close game.  He said:

Yes, you may think it's weird that I still have this but ever since sophomore year I have always kept this conversation close to me.  It shows how you must constantly work hard everyday in order to achieve something great.  Things do not always go your way and that is a part of life but this message reminds me of what to do next time to get things to go the right way.  Games you lose show you how you never want to feel this way again and exemplifies your character in how you pick yourself up to keep moving forward. Okay guys I'm trying to be inspirational and I hope it's working at least a little :)  Although this game is behind us, keep the fire inside you to hate losing.  We are so fortunate to be on this team and many people do not get this opportunity.  As coach says all the time, "We are all here for a reason."  While we are so lucky to have this opportunity, we must take advantage of it.  It goes by so fast (trust me) and to make the most of it we need to give everything we have.  We still have so much of the season left ladies and I cannot wait to watch us grow as a team together.  Give it your all in every practice, inspire each other to be the very best and always have fun doing it! This is our year and it is only the beginning! Of course I must add a little inspirational video!!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0AxpHoRpNQ

P.S. Happy belated birthday shout out to Vina Win not Lose!!!!!!!

And We Are Back!!! (At I Again With The White Vans)

Lift at 7 am, wearing sweats to class after lift, sleeping after lift ... Only means one thing. Happy Pre Spring Season everyone! The Lady Cards have been prepping for a successful spring season in and out of the gym.  As the wise Tay Adams said, "If you can still feel your arms after arm day, you're doing it wrong."  Here is a brief reflection that our coaches put together of our 2015 fall season!!
 





Being being in "off season" is quite rough if you ask any athlete.  Just to describe the pain I have been feeling lately, here are 6 struggles of being a student athlete out of season and some pictures to help me describe our daily activities:

1. Going to class sweaty (and usually smelly) after lift 

Making an entrance into class isn't supposed to be glamorous in the off season.  We most likely will have a nice glisten of sweat dripping from our faces and trying to act like everything is normal.  Also, the whole "sweat is the new sparkle" saying ... Yeah we don't understand that. I look like someone dumped a bucket of water on me.

2. No more eating junk and "running it off later"

My favorite line of all time.  Although we are working out, it isn't the same as in season.  We actually have to watch what we eat, which at times may be the hardest part of my day.  Our brain may be saying salad but our hearts are saying pizza.

3. When we get free time we don't know what to do with ourselves 

The pure face of confusion.  What do you mean there's nothing else to do?  I really don't have anything left on my agenda today?  No practice, no more homework, this is not real.  The questions that race through my mind.  In the beginning it is really rough, but than you find your pure love for sleep ....

4. Forever catching up on sleep that you missed while in season

Napping is a must throughout the day that in the fall we did not get to enjoy, so might as well catch up on it now.  We all need some extra beauty sleep once in a while!

6. Being so sore it hurts to do pretty much anything

Oh you want me to pick up that pencil on the floor?  Simple tasks may become impossible after a solid workout session.  Sometimes breathing could be the struggle.  But hey we want some muscles, so if that means crawling to class instead of walking, I'll do it.

5. When you're teammates are actually dressed for class = shocked

Yes, it is possible that we can dress like girls sometimes ... I stress the sometimes.  We have other clothes in our wardrobe besides sweats believe it or not.  We just choose to be comfortable. We all have our inner Beyonce (cough Brooke Knight cough) :)

6. When the squad is back together, it is one big reunion

So grateful to be apart of team that I can truly call everyone a great friend.  Even though we don't see each other everyday when we are all together, it's like nothing has changed.  Can't wait to be back on the pitch soon #SquadGoals

Wishing everyone the best of luck with their midterms!! Study hard and we will all do great :)


We also have been working hard along side Autism Speaks on campus in planning the second Annual Color Run for this April 2016!! Get your tickets now at this website to get your spot now! More details to follow!! :)  http://plattsburgh.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event.asp?id=689&cid=32

Sadly .... All Good Things Must Come To An End

I know we have all missed these weekly blog posts just a little bit :) Our season has officially come to an end and I think I can speak for everyone saying I miss it everyday.  I just don't know what to do with myself and all this free time I have now.  I would much rather be spending my time on the soccer field with my teammates who I miss seeing everyday :(

Just a little recap of our SUNYAC playoff run this year:  We came out strong and ready for redemption in our SUNYAC semifinal game vs. Brockport.  With intensity from the first to the last whistle, we all gave it our very best.  With goals from Anissa, Cass and Cait with assists from Mad Sac x2 and myself, we beat Brockport 3-2.  We all believed in ourselves and put on a thrilling game.

We only had a couple practices before the long trek out to Buffalo (9 hours one way people), which were filled with focus and determination.  Although the Buffalo game did not end with the results we had wanted, our team displayed hard work throughout the game.  Our last game did not exemplify all we had conquered in the 2015 season. We ended with a 12-6-2 record, which was the best in program history since 2010.  This season was filled with so many great memories and I was so lucky to experience with a great bunch of girls and awesome coaches :)  The people who lead us to our exciting season was our awesome seniors! It was great becoming teammates, great friends and family with such hardworking and caring people three years ago. Can't even describe how much we will all miss your dance moves next year <3

Seniors 2015

Since season has ended I know most of us have spent long days in the library preparing for finals as well as in the gym because now we can't eat anything we want since we can't "run it off later" at practice.  It's tough but we will make it through as always.

I put a little video together to share with everyone all the laughs and good times this team has had over the last couple of months.  Yes, I did get sad while making it.  So for the teammates watching this, you will most likely get nostalgic and miss the season like I did. Hope you enjoy!!! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erY3MwofzOs

Well I guess this season's blog has come to a brief ending ... Don't worry I'll write here and there to keep everyone posted on our team's news :) But for now Plattsburgh Women's soccer wishes everyone safe travels home to celebrate Thanksgiving!!  Hope everyone eats lots of delicious food and gets to spend some quality time with your families :)

We Gotta Want It!

Wow .... And just like that regular season is over. WE ARE OFF TO THE PLAYOFFS BABY!!!! With a solid win over Geneseo and a tough tie aganist Brockport this past weekend we earned fourth seed for playoffs .... MEANING we got blessed by getting a home game for the SUNYAC quarterfinals aka no long bus rides this week.  We will be hosting Brockport, yet again, at 3 pm tomorrow at the Field house. We are beyond pumped to get another chance vs. Brockport and it should be a great game to watch!!! I repeat tomorrow 3pm at the field house everyone has to be there :) Quick side note: Our team from 2014 has received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award for the seventh straight season!!! To earn this award our team must have a cumulative average of a 3.0 during the season. Keep up the good grades and endless hours in the lib ladies!! :) 

Uterine Cancer Awareness Game

Our Lovely Seniors

As we were practicing hard this last week (I don't know about anyone else), some emotions were hitting a little harder than usual.  Yepp sorry but I'm feeling a little emotional ;) Wanting to continue our season, everyone gave their all and had a solid week of practice to prepare for this important weekend.  Being a junior, I've been given the opportunity to face adversity with such a great group of ladies.  From facing injuries and not making it into playoffs my freshman year, to making it to playoffs for the first time in a while for PSUWS my sophomore year and now as I reach my junior it's time for the up's and down's to finally be put to the test.

We have worked too hard this whole season not to get the results we want.  As we have our last practice today before quarterfinals, take a moment to think who you have played for this season. Just some special people you may have played for: 1. I played for my beautiful teammates.  You guys have been a main support system on and off the field, which is the best thing anyone could ask for. From pushing each other through the beep test in preseason to always convincing me Chipotle is a great idea, I wouldn't want to be apart of another team. 2. I played for my coaches.  They always believed in every one of us when things weren't going our way and pushed us to be the best we could be. They always are there to get us focused, increase our love for this beautiful sport we call socccer (yes the extra "c" is supposed to be the accent) and to dance with us, well really only Coach Tania busts the moves :) 3. I played for my parents. Because hey without them we wouldn't be here today.  So thank them for all the hugs, cheers and delicious food they make for our tailgates! Shoutout to my mom for making her great meatballs :) and lastly 4. I played for our seniors. Coming into preseason as a freshman, I looked up to you guys (figuratively and literally) thinking if you guys got through, so could I.  You guys took the present junior class under your wings and made adjusting to college life that much easier. The last four years that you've dedicated will not be forgotten and we can't wait to keep kicking booty in SUNYAC's with you! You the real MVP's <3 So as we approach this important game tomorrow just think of all these people who have been there for you and make them proud!  We can do this ladies, we gotta want it (in the Mercedes voice) and don't worry we will get it! As Herb Brooks, one of the greatest coaches in sports history, once said, "You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here. This moment is yours."

If you didn't hear the first time, be at our quarterfinal game tomorrow at 3pm at the fieldhouse!!!! BE LOUD AND PROUD :)

Just to get everyone a little pumped!!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujyr7--Fzw4 

Big Weekend, Big Games & Bigger Results

As you can see, my loads of school work are killing my blogging vibes but don't worry I'll make this one extra special :) I'd rather be blogging than studying any day don't you worry!

Just a little recap of our games two weekends ago .... Our home games were nothing less than exciting (as usual) with each team battling to the very end and being a 1-1 weekend! Playing two teams we lost to the previous season, we knew what we had to do to come out on top.  Our first double header conference games only means one thing ... SECRET PSYCH!! This has been a tradition of the Plattsburgh Women's soccer team for a while now.  Everyone randomly picks a teammates name and we decorate each others locker with balloons, streamers and everything available at the local dollar store to get each other pumped up for the weekend!! It's always fun seeing who had who and it definitely gets us game ready! We beat New Paltz 2-1 in overtime fashion aka Plattsburgh Women's soccer fashion with goals from Dev and Cass! On Saturday, we played Oneonta but came up just short in the end.  We all battled for every ball that came our way and even though we did not get the result we wanted, we hope to see this team again in SUNYAC playoffs! This past weekend we also played for a great cause, Cystic Fibrosis awareness.  We wore T-shirts, raised money and sold raffle tickets for our cause and ended up raising about $500 for donations! Thank you to everyone who donated and supported Cystic Fibrosis :)

Dev #23

Cass #18

Team Locker Room Decorated

With school work adding up, it gives us more of a reason to let it all out in practice and just have fun! Many of us went home for Columbus Day break and it was a nice break from our busy school work and see family.  After break, it was right back to the work grind to prepare for Buffalo State and Fredonia.  Since we didn't have classes Monday and Tuesday for the holiday, we only had to go to classes Wednesday and Thursday, which I don't know about anyone else, but I was pretty pumped about it :) That was the start to a great weekend with a great group of people.  We hopped on the bus and made a nice little 9 hour bus ride over to Fredonia (it was not nice nor little) filled with lots of movies and singing (good and bad singing may I add)!  Towards the end, I felt my delirious phase beginning and it had felt like I was on the bus for daysssss .....

Cait Loves Movies

Lisa Being a Buffalo

                                                        
With a nice stretch session the morning of the Fredonia game in the lovely city of Hamburg (filled with views of highways and that's about it) we were ready to go!!!!

We came out very strong aganist Fredonia and won 5-2 with goals from Cass, Anissa x2, Dev and Mad Sac!! Whoop whoop :) That night we did a little team bonding session and shared baby photos of ourselves! It was so funny seeing all of our fat baby photos and reallyawkward middle school photos :) If you didn't have an awkward middle school phase, you can't sit with us!! :) With a little time to kill the next day, Coach decided to take us to Fun Zone, the local arcade, to have a little fun competition.  We played lots of games including trampoline basketball, bumper cars and our teams personal favorite, Battle Zone which was similar to laser tag but the guns shot out these little rubber balls.  You would think they wouldn't hurt right? WRONG!  Coach got shot in her throat and Mad Sac and I got shot on our behinds (don't worry I don't have pictures of our bruises) and it was VERY painful. I may or may not have almost seen the light ;)

Battle Zone Ready!

With our competitive juices flowing, we were off to Buffalo.  One thing I can say about our team every game is we fight to the very end of every game.  Sarah scored our lone goal of the game and we just came up short at the very end of the match.  With a good weekend in check, we ended on another good note (before our never ending bus ride back to the Burgh) , which many were happy about ... MOE'S!! On our way back home a couple of weird things happened on the bus, but the weirdest was when our bus driver told us the bus was slanted ................ Yes he thought we were going to tip over so we all had to move to one side of the bus.  That was really fun to do at 3:30 am :)

Nichole Was Really Happy About Moes

Had To Add A Food Pic

After that long bus ride, I don't plan on being on a bus for a least a little while leading to my point of we officially got a playoff spot in our conference!!! WOOOOHHHOOOOO! With good vibes all around, we had our last non conference game vs. Johnston State on Tuesday and we killed it winning 7-1!  Anissa x3 getting that hat trick, Cait, Dev, Madison and Mad Sac all got on the scoreboard! Anissa is now the record holder for Plattsburgh with most goals in one season! Anissa you the bomb.com and keep scoring!!!!

This upcoming weekend consists of our last guaranteed home games so come out and support! Today we are playing Geneseo at 3pm and playing for a great cause.  One of our fellow teammates mother's has been battling uterine cancer and to honor her bravery we will be playing to support her battle. Our teammate has been very strong for her mom while still being far away from home and we can't wait to get a W for her family today :) Tomorrow we will be playing Brockport at 1pm and it is also SENIOR DAY!! We can't wait to get a W for our wonderful seniors as well who have put so much time and effort to make our team a family! It's going to be a great weekend and we can't wait to see everyone in the stands! This weekend determines where and who we will play in the SUNYAC quarterfinals so it will be very exciting!!! HERE WE GO CARDS!! :)

Here is a little video of our fun weekend!! :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2dKSF7K4wI

And Than He Said Let Conference Play Begin

As the temperatures in Plattsburgh begin to drop and people start taking Instagrams of pretending to pick apples, it only means one thing. SUNYAC's have begun!!! Before we started conference play, we ended our last non conference game in a very exciting fashion. With a tough loss from Middlebury last year still on our minds, we knew what we had to do this season.  The game was a thriller as usual as we trailed behind 1-0 until the wonderful Anissa scored on a penalty kick.  Tying up the game and giving everyone in the stands a heart attack, Anissa scored another one in overtime with the assist from Mad Sac giving us yet another well earned victory!! So basically Anissa is a lifesaver and we all love her for her goal scoring skills, which is why she also received SUNYAC offensive player of the week also :) Woooohhhoooo!!

Anissa #20

Last weekend, we played Potsdam for our SUNYAC opener! Both teams fought to the end (literally) forcing us into yet again another double overtime.  Pretty sure I have some gray hair now from all this overtime stress! And in wonderful Cardinal fashion, Cait finished the game off for us with a awesome goal to win it 1-0!! :)

With a win under our belts, we all wanted more!  With a full week of practice and fitness music Monday's beginning, we all had a solid week of practice preparing for our next rivals! First stop was Cortland. I think everyone can agree the food this year on road trips = on point! Obviously we all look forward to food or as coach said this weekend, "We kick butt and than eat!" I mean we all our soccer players so our life consumes of three things during the fall semester: eating, sleeping and soccer.  Since I was a freshman, the rivalry between Plattsburgh and Cortland has grown and on Friday it showed until the very end.  Until we scored at the very end of the match (thank you again Anissa), it was a battle.  Ashlie slotted a ball by Cortland's defense to Anissa who scored giving us the 1-0 win!! A few of us had friends who played on the Cortland team, which was fun playing against old teammates too :)

Eggplant parm at Logan's <3

The bathroom mirrors were a little too high for me at Logan's

With our adrenaline still high from the day before, we were off to Oswego for our third conference game! The teams in our conference are all tough competitors and want to win! Cait scored a early goal in the game giving us a 1-0 lead. Battling to the end we fell just a tad short losing 2-1.  The past two games gave us a sense of what the next few weeks will look like and what we have to work on. We will continue to work hard and push each other to get the outcomes we want! We still have a lot of soccer left and always room to improve!! Our record in our conference is now 2-1.

I also wanted to take a quick moment to thank all the parents who travel on the weekends to see us play, especially as the cold weather in quickly approaching. Without them, we wouldn't be where we are today! So thank you for being there through the wins and losses, the rain and snow and being our supportive cheerleaders!

We have our first home conference play double header this weekend!!!! On Friday we play New Paltz at 3pm and Oneonta at 1pm! Hope everyone can make it :) GO CARDS!

Here's a quick video of what our road trips look like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJeD85BCkZw
 Watch until the end because you'll get a good laugh :)